Develop prescriptive designs for cavity barriers for use in facades

Design & specify | DS020

This activity is about creating product specifications for cavity barriers in facades in response to descriptive designs. This includes identification of products and product manufacturer, and interpretation of DIAP / certificated performance. This may be carried out during RIBA stage 4 (Technical Design) on new build projects or during repair, maintenance and improvement activities.
Culture & behaviour
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Effective working behaviours

You must:

  • Work within limits of defined capability and know when to seek advice from others
  • Manage own time effectively
  • Work effectively individually and as part of a team
  • Communicate effectively
  • Undertake defined personal development activities to maintain currency of competence
Culture & behaviour
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Design & specification behaviours

You must:

  • Challenge unsafe behaviours and activities, and report where necessary
  • Work in accordance with quality requirements and challenge where they are not being met
  • Act ethically to ensure safe outcomes
  • Follow organisational processes for highlighting and resolving inaccurate or incomplete product information
  • The individual knows what the processes are, why they are important and follows the processes in place
Currency of competence
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Experience developing prescriptive designs for cavity barriers for use in facades

You must have:

  • 1 prescriptive design of cavity barriers for use in facades meeting a descriptive design, per year
Core abilities
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Impact of product variation in design and specification

You must:

  • Understand the potential impact of product variation on construction system conformance or compliance
  • Understand when product variation may be required
  • Where specified product is not available or where conditions at site don't meet design intent
Core abilities
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Selecting construction products

You must:

  • Understand how legislation and official guidance relates to the design of passive fire protection, and the consequences of non-compliance
  • Understand how digital engineering can assist with the design process, and its limitations
  • Understand that buildings work as systems and know the importance of this for passive fire design
  • Understand your responsibility to follow organisational rules about construction products
  • Be aware of the Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI) and how it is utilised
  • Understand how conformity marking can be used to support passive fire design
  • To include: Use of the Declaration of Performance to compare products for the same scope of application; Knowing that not all products can be conformity marked
  • Understand how third party certification can support passive fire design
  • Understand how test reports can support product specification
  • Know the impact of getting information wrong
Core abilities
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Core passive fire knowledge

You must:

  • Understand the importance of passive fire protection in safeguarding buildings and people
  • To include: compartmentation; how PFP impedes fire to protect structures and people.
  • Know suitable vocabulary to discuss passive fire protection products

To provide evidence, you may complete:

  • IFE Level 2 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection
  • IFE Level 2 Award in Passive Fire Protection
  • Any one or more of the awards currently on offer
  • IFE Level 3 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection
Specific abilities
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Understanding cavity barriers for use in facades

You must:

  • Know the materials that services are commonly made from and their implications for cavity barriers in facades
  • Know the supporting construction materials that are commonly used and their implications for use of cavity barriers in facades
  • Know that use categories are specified for cavity barriers in facades, and how those categories are located and applied
  • To include categories as set out in the ASFP red book
Specific abilities
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Finding and interpreting information on cavity barriers for use in facades

You must:

  • Know where to find detailed information on cavity barriers for use in facades
  • Know how to interpret detailed information on cavity barriers for use in facades
  • To include: characteristics, quality, uses and limitations
  • Know where to find information on product warranties
Specific abilities
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Developing prescriptive designs for cavity barriers for use in facades

You must:

  • Know how to interpret descriptive design information related to cavity barriers for use in facades

You must be able to:

  • Identify the requirements for cavity barriers for use in facades based on the descriptive design provided
  • Review direct field of application and certified product performance to determine and specify suitable cavity barriers for use in facades, or seek alternative performance validations
  • Select alternative products for use in line with the descriptive design where proposed products for cavity barriers in facades are deemed unsuitable
Specific abilities
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Limits of responsibility for prescriptive design

You must:

  • Understand that within prescriptive design you may propose construction products for a validated scope of application
Specific abilities
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Handling product variation

You must:

  • Know how to escalate product variation queries

You must be able to:

  • Identify where product variation may be required
  • Escalate product variation queries outside of direct scope of application or outside terms of contract
  • Propose suitable alternatives where product variation is required and a suitable alternative can be found under direct scope of application and within terms of the contract
Specific abilities
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Communicating prescriptive design information

You must:

  • Know methods of communicating of prescriptive design information

You must be able to:

  • Document the prescriptive design
  • Communicate prescriptive design requirements to relevant stakeholders
  • To include: installation contractor / golden thread; descriptive designer
This is a newly defined activity profile. If you have any comments, please get in touch.